Monday, August 13, 2012

Pando 6-hour race report

The reason why I haven't updated my blog since Tuesday is because I've been either riding my Spearfish or staring at it. I will be the first to admit that I am completely obsessed with that bike. At first, I was a little curious to how I would feel riding it. I mean, my favorite bike is a single speed hard tail. Not only does the Spearfish have gears, but it's also full-suspension.

However it was GAME OVER the moment I started pedaling. I can't even begin to describe how the Spearfish rides except that it climbs like a hard tail (I felt no bobbing) but floats over everything. Instead of getting jarred over bumpy trail the Spearfish just glides right over them. I can't stay off of it!

I spent all week looking forward to the 6 hours of Pando. I could not wait to test the Spearfish out during a long-ish race. Unfortunately it rained all Friday long and I decided to leave the Spearfish at home. As much as I wanted to race it I couldn't afford to trash all of my parts in the mud. I basically need them to last ten years.

Anyways, Pando went really well. The rain stopped, the course dried out freakishly fast, and I was able to push myself the entire time. At the start line I looked around and realized that I was the only female racing solo. I decided to go after the guys....bahahahahahha :-)

Pando is closed off to riders except during races, so I only get to ride it once or twice a year. It's a fun trail but definitely puts you in the hurt locker. There's really no room to recover. And because it's so short in distance the lap times are really fast. During the race I felt like I was just recovering from the toboggan hill when it was time to climb it again.

Wheeeeeeee!

Photo credit: Jack Kunnen

I made it back from my 16th lap with about 30 seconds to spare and I'm really happy my friend Steve told me to go back out for one more lap because I ended up taking the overall win out of the 6-hour solos by a lap!

It was a really great workout and I'm happy that I raced it instead of Ore to Shore. Don't get me wrong, I really love racing Ore to Shore. But I really didn't feel like making the drive. Instead of being stuck in the car all day Sunday I was able to get another 5.5 hour ride in. And yes, my legs are officially tired!!!

Speaking of car rides...now I have four days until I leave for Minnesota. Packing shouldn't be that hard because I never fully unpacked from Wisconsin! Scott can't go on the trip but I do have a great friend coming with to help me with the drive and filling out my hydrapaks...it should be a good time!